"Command and Control is failing us. There is a better way to design and manage work - a better way to make work work - but it remains unknown to the vast majority of managers." An adherent of the Toyota Production System, John Seddon explains how traditional top-down decision making within service organizations leads to managers who are detached from employees and remote from operations. He demonstrates that decision-making based on purpose-related measures (such as putting customers first and improving services) can help managers reconnect with operations, see waste, and exploit opportunities for improvement. Through extensive case material, he differentiates between command and control and systems thinking and illustrates how the latter leads to improved service, revenues, and staff morale. He also posits that the service industry is fundamentally different from manufacturing, and shows how Toyota production principles must be transformed for application in service organizations.

Table of Contents

Introduction: There Is a Better Way Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time in Manufacturing Chapter 2: The Customer Service Center as a System Chapter 3: Redefining the Purpose, Measures, and Method of Work Chapter 4: Better Measures, Better Thinking Chapter 5: The 'Break-Fix' Archetype Chapter 6: Learning to See, Learning to Lead Chapter 7: Customers - People Who Can Pull You Away from the Competition Chapter 8: Do These Hold Water? Chapter 9: Watch Out for the Toolheads Conclusion: Revisiting Taylorism Appendix: The Better Way to Improve Public Services Notes Further Reading Index About the Author